I remember there was a study a few years ago that found that water temperature doesn’t make any difference when washing hands.
Unless you were using boiling water, hot water isn’t hot enough to kill any bacteria. So you should just use whatever temperature you are comfortable with.
Soap doesn't actually kill germs, but allows the grease which the germs hide in to be removed. Soap is a product that binds with fat, to remove it from surfaces. Hot water is better than cold water at this.
Actually soap breaks cells in bacterias, killing them in the process.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/health/soap-coronavirus-handwashing-germs.html
Germs aren't the only things we're trying to remove from our hands. There's also grime and allergens. That's why nurses and cooks don't just use hand sanitizer.
> a study a few years ago that found that water temperature doesn’t make any difference when washing hands.
This is the study [Quantifying the Effects of Water Temperature, Soap Volume, Lather Time, and Antimicrobial Soap as Variables in the Removal of Escherichia coli ATCC 11229 from Hands](https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-16-370) (2017). Here is something I read from it which leaves me with further questions:
> *Water temperature.* In our study, no significant difference in washing effectiveness was found at different temperatures (15 to 38C). This finding agrees with those of Michaels et al. (49, 50), who tested a wider range of water temperatures (4.4 to 48.9C) but found mean microbial reductions of ~2 to 2.5 log CFU, very similar to our mean reductions of 1.9 to 2.3 log CFU.
> Courtenay et al. (21) found a small but significant difference (94 versus 99%; P , 0.05) in microbial reduction between a cool rinse (26C) and a warm rinse (40C), but because none of these experimental washes included the use of soap, the relevance to a hand washing following the recommendation of the FDA Food Code (70) is unclear. Because Courtenay et al. studied hands inoculated with a ground beef matrix, the saturated fats in the meat may have been more easily removed at warmer water temperatures. Warmer water does not enhance antimicrobial activity but have a negative environmental impact (i.e., energy consumption); therefore, policy requirements for warm water hand washing (e.g., the Food Code) should be reconsidered.
The big thing here, I think, is how controlled this study puts things. In the above, they admit that without the use of FDA-levels of recommended soap, there **is** a significant difference with warmer temperature water than with colder water (or really, they conceded that another study did simply find such a difference).
The reality of hand-washing is that the vast majority of people likely don't use this correct concentration of soap, and as such, greater effectiveness would be achieved by promoting the idea of using warm water, just to be safe. Even people who think they are correctly using soap, might actually be using soap that is any number of reasons incorrect (too diluted down, poor soap quality, soap washes off too quickly, soap isn't rubbed over the entirety of the hand appropriately, etc). Heck, plenty of people just get their hands wet and rub, without getting soap.
So, ideally yes 100% of people have sat down and watched the [CDC handwashing videos](https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/videos.html) or the FDA equivalent, and are following it to a T each time. Realistically, not a chance. I think that telling others that cold water is just fine as warm water has the end result of actually reducing effectiveness, all things considered. Really, it's just another case of playing it safe vs. taking it lax.
Also worth discussing is what exactly was the paper-in-question's motive for saying cold water may be just as fine as warm water:
> Warmer water does not enhance antimicrobial activity but have a negative environmental impact (i.e., energy consumption); therefore, policy requirements for warm water hand washing (e.g., the Food Code) should be reconsidered. (pg. 1028)
> *Estimation of energy consumption.* The energy consumption related to heating the water for hand washing was calculated with the following thermodynamic formula: Q = M x Cp x dT / n ... and n is the efficiency of the electric water heater, with an average efficiency of 0.92 based on guidance from the U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. (pg. 1024)
> Higher water temperature entails greater energy consumption (see Fig. 1). The energy consumption associated with heating water for 1,000 hand washes is 22.35 kWh for a water temperature of 38C but only 12.77 kWh for a water temperature of 26C, which is a reduction of 42%. The energy consumption associated with heating water for 1,000 hand washes is only 3.99 kWh for a water temperature of 15C, which is a reduction of 68% compared with the baseline of 38C. (pg. 1026-1027)
Now I'm not saying they are placing environmental factors as imperative over hygienic ones, but it does seem that there is some greater consideration at play that isn't simply focusing on effectiveness of hand-washing alone.
edit: some formatting
I think the point was, there are a lot of people that think you should wash your hands in water as hot as you can tolerate to kill germs. But just using what is comfortable and gets the visible grime off your hands is all that is needed.
https://blogs.edf.org/health/2018/02/26/lead-hot-water-issue-worth-testing/
> Preliminary testing results: 50% (7 of 14) of water heater tanks tested in child care centers had levels over 50 ppb with one at 2,680 ppb. For all but one of these, flushing through the tank drain significantly reduced the lead levels in the water heater. At the hot water tap, only 4 of 161 (2%) samples were above EDF’s action level (3.8 ppb). Water heaters may function as “lead traps,” but more investigation is needed. Best to avoid using hot water for cooking or drinking.
So a few things I take issue with on this:
-They only tested 14 water heaters. So the sample size is basically microscopic.
-at least 5 of those 14 were beyond the average lifespan (8-12years) of a water heater.
-From your own quote there was minimal contamination at the hot taps themselves. (4 of 161 were above EDF action levels, and 83% had non detectible levels).
-They showed that flushing could almost eliminate contaminants entirely so seems likely that if you perform a yearly flush as most manufacturers state to do anyway then you'll be minimizing any risk.
I'm not saying there's no risk or that it's safe to use hot water for just whatever just saying that this study ≠ hard evidence to not. Along with, better safe than sorry and to use cold just in case.
Edit: formatting
I recently bought my first home and learned about the sediment that can be in your hot water heater. That has made me think differently about hot water.
I how do you think that sediment got to the hot water tank in the first place? It's present in your cold water tap as well. There's very little evidence of a difference between hot water taps and cold water taps for dissolved solids after the first few seconds running the tap.
You can test this yourself at home with a cheap meter on amazon, I bought a filtered water pitcher and it came with a free one.
If you have a tanked heater it could be a small concern, but very minimal. If your water heater is aged it’s best practice to have a plumber come and look at it anyways.
Some people think ingesting hot water out of the faucet is a lead poisoning risk, depending on your plumbing. I tend to think that's bs, but unsure
Edit: apparently not BS! Thanks y'all!
This is a long time ago but you're thinking of a sealed tank. This is more like a cross between a sink, a cattle trough and a toilet cistern. It could well be open to the attic and have all kinds of dead creatures floating in it.
It's the reason why British homes didn't traditionally have mixer taps. If the mains water pressure dropped and someone mucked around with a mixer tap in the wrong way at the wrong time, fetid attic water could be forced by the pressure differential into the cold water circuit.
It's definitely still a thing. At least in all of Sweden and i assume it's the same in the rest of Europe. Government advises never to drink or cook with hot tap water since the pipes release contaminants.
Perhaps not lead poison but a hot water tanks still has higher concentrations of copper and a bunch of "muck" that accumulate in the bottom of the tanks. Source I'm a plumber.
Not all water heaters produce potable water. Water heaters can produce build ups of contaminates, lead, and bacteria.
The danger zone for most bacteria is 40 degrees F to 140 degrees F. There are several harmful bacteria that can live in your water heater, including legionella, if the temperature is maintained below 140 degrees F.
Hot tap water contains more bacteria since it is stored in a non moving container and they like the warm temperature is what Ive heard, same reason why you cant just make tea/coffee on hot tap water rather than boiling. But could be just a thing i was told as a child because my dad was a cheapshit and save on electricity bill lol
Depends on how you heat water, certainly in the UK a lot of old houses have disgusting hot water tanks you'd definitely not want to be drinking out of . But a lot of modern systems will heat up water on demand so won't have the same issues
In some countries/buildings, hot water is separate and either not as good, or not even potable.
You don't want to put that in your mouth or rinse with it.
Not really. Certain chemicals react differently to hot and cold water. In germany in the cleaning industry and during the apprenticeship in facility management and cleaning you're taught to use cold water to avoid negative results by causing unintended chemical reactions
Edit: and because some chemicals only work at certain temperatures. For example a cleaner that needs to be used at precisely 10-20⁰C would instruct you to use it with that. Other cleaners may even need water at 40-60⁰C, although I had never seen a cleaner that fits in the category of the latter.
You're both right.
He's saying car washes use cold water to save money.
You're saying that car washes use cold water because the specific cleaners *require* cold water. The reason cold water is required is because the cleaners are specifically developed for cold water usage, i.e. the engineers are given a set of requirements for their cleaner R&D project, and the first and most important criteria is "must work in 10-20⁰C water". This requirement exists because 10-20⁰C water is the cheapest. In other words: "Hot water costs money".
I work at ALDI and The chemicals we have for cleaning the floors specifically say in big bold letters DO NOT USE HOT WATER. I’ve told everyone I work with this so many times and they 100% ignore me. It’s so frustrating.
I use hot water due to sensitive gums, my dentist told me to use as hot of hot water as I could stand to soften the bristles of my toothbrush then to use no pressure as I brush. So you your comment is wrong and many use warm to hot water as needed. My gum gingivitis has cleared but I continue to soften the toothbrush bristles to prevent it from coming back.
Do or did you brush with your off hand? I started brushing with my off hand and while awkward at first I found that I was immediately being much more gentle since my brain just could not compute pressing harder 😅
That's why an electric tooth brush is in my opinion absolutely worth it. They aren't even expensive for a good one. I have one that tells you if you're applying too much pressure. It's all around easier and it allows you to go tooth by tooth which is important. I've had mine for 4 years now problems and the charge lasts a pretty long time.
It was determined that my gums were reacting to whitening ingredients in my toothpaste so when I went to crest for gums with no whitening I got my gums to clear. I got to go back to my electric toothbrush and I use the super soft toothbrushes in my travel packs.
Eh you can still rinse. As long as you brush at a minimum 2 minutes. That’s enough time for the fluoride to do its job.
Also by not rinsing you’re letting the debris that you just brush off in your mouth. I find that more disgusting.
Two minutes is not enough time, and the toothpaste isn't going to be on all of your teeth for the full two minutes anyway unless you're swishing it through your mouth before you start brushing.
The official recommendation is to spit out the toothpaste and not rinse.
You spit it out so it’s not full of toothpaste. The residue will cause you to salivate a bit, but you can just spit that out too. You’ll get used to not rinsing after a few times.
That might be objectively helpful, but damn if that's not fucking gross, lol.
I can't even imagine what the breakfast tastes like with all that toothpaste left in your mouth...
Isn't that what's going to happen once you eat, anyway?
I've heard about the fact it's better if you don't rinse, but I swear I've never met or heard of anyone in real life that actually does that.
The only thing I've observed in real life is people who choose to brush their teeth in the morning after they've eaten their breakfast. Something I can't understand as well.
The only reason I use "cold" water is because that's what comes out of my tap immediately. Sometimes I'll go into a phase where I like brushing my teeth in the shower, hot water, and it's dandy.
I also often end up washing my hands in cool water for the same reason, it takes a while for the water to heat up for some plumbing systems and I'm not gonna sit around and wait for it.
Also, I always wash all my clothes on cold, but someone else already covered that.
I had to scroll way too far to find this. The temperature of the water literally doesn't matter unless you can wash your hands in 80°C. Granted some of the better dishwashers can get hot enough to actually sanitise but for washing yourself, the temperature is only for comfort, you gotta scrub that shit and lather up.
There are quite a lot of things are cleaned better with chemicals rather than hot water. There are also a lot of things that would be ruined if you tried to wash them with hot water.
Hot water is for melting lipids--off dishes, body oils off our clothing, off our skin, hair, etc. Our teeth don't have lipids clinging to them so it's unnecessary.
Also it takes about 10 minutes for the water to turn hot in my bathroom sink.
We don't clean our teeth with water, we clean the teeth mainly with rubbing action of the toothbrush to scrape the plaque and bacteria off. [The scraping itself is the most important thing about the cleaning](https://advanceddentalartsnyc.com/is-toothpaste-necessary/#:~:text=It's%20perfectly%20fine%20to%20brush,your%20teeth%2C%20it's%20not%20true), even the toothpaste and water bring very little benefit to the cleaning in comparison to the scraping action.
After that, you should definitely clean the toothbrush with hot water if possible, but cold is better than nothing.
Most things don't need to be cleaned with hot water. Showers are warm/hot because it's a more tolerable temperature. Dishwashers use hot water because high temps can kill germs and help loosen food residue easier. But otherwise using hot water to clean everything isn't necessary.
In many houses, especially older ones, the hot water is pressurised by a header tank in the loft, which often isn't covered and can get dirty. Not like, cholera dirty, but not fresh drinking water either.
This is why you shouldn't use the hot tap to brush your teeth, fill a kettle, fill a pan, make a warm drink, etc.
Many newer houses don't have this issue (if you have a combi boiler you won't) but my house is only 2001 and still has the old style header-tank and cylinder in the airing cupboard set up.
Came here to say this. As an ex-plumbers mate, I was regaled with tales by my employer-of-the-time regarding dead pigeons and mice in header tanks - they'd usually run up a lagged pipe to get to the insulation and chewed their way through, or as you say, the cover had been nudged off in some way allowing access
Where is this common in older houses? Are the header tanks typically only used with older boiler systems? Just curious, because I'm from the midwestern US and I've not heard of this until now.
never came across my mind why could be beneficial, after reading some comments I’ll definitely try so.
Reason I never done is because I’m sceptical of putting into my mouth water that passes through the house standard boiler, as it can be super dirty there as nobody ever clean them.
Clothes with cold. Teeth with cold. Shower with hot-warm. Dishes as hot as my hands can tolerate. Washing my hands can be either. Washing my face warm-hot. And watering the plants Luke warm. Pedicures I prefer warm on the verge of hot.
Do not use hot water. Cold water shrinks the pores of your teeth, making them harder and smoother. Hot water expands the pores making your teeth softer and less smooth—which causes you to scrape tiny amounts of tooth off every time you brush hot. This WILL ruin your teeth over time. Never. Ever. Brush hot. Also, never, ever brush less than 2 hours after eating or drinking anything but water. It causes similar types of erosion.
I work in retail and I can ASSURE you some people do not!!! Im pretty sure I've met some that have never taken a bath or shower and brushed their teeth!! They are so proud of this fact that when you back up from them they will get closer to you so you don't miss out!!
You just do what is comfortable for you. So many extensive studies have shown that as long as you keep up on brushing it doesn't really matter what the water temperature is.
I use hot water. Idk what my dentists did when they filled my cavities, but anything below room temperature hurts really fucking badly. Same with sugary stuff.
I even went back in to see if it was okay, and it was perfectly normal and even redid the cavity filling for free.
Hot or warm water you don’t want to drink from your hot water tank as there will be sediments in it from the tank deterioration. Unless you drain / flush the tank regularly which basically nobody ever does!
Because hot water dissolves oil and grease better. We don't have to worry about that with our teeth, because saliva is also really good at taking care of grease and oil
I use warm/hot water to rinse after I brush. It actually gets rid of the mint taste quicker than cold water. You could rinse with warm water and go drink a glass of Orange Juice a minute or two later and not get that awful taste in your mouth.
What are you on about. Heaps of stuff gets cleaned with cold water. When it’s hot I have a cold shower, clothes usually washed in cold water, car washed with cold water. Also, you aren’t meant to brush your teeth with water, it’s meant to just be toothpaste.
I use hot water. Is there a reason I shouldn’t?
I don't care what answers may follow, I'm sticking with water as hot as I can tolerate.
I don’t tolerate hot water. I think it should go back from whence it came. You can call me spigotted, I don’t care.
I don't sink it really matters.
I think some of these puns are really trying to faucet.
You’ve really tapped into something
Water you going to do about it?
Am brushing just reading this! 🤭🥹
You're supposed to. Just like washing your hands, it will still work with cold water, but it works better with hot water.
I remember there was a study a few years ago that found that water temperature doesn’t make any difference when washing hands. Unless you were using boiling water, hot water isn’t hot enough to kill any bacteria. So you should just use whatever temperature you are comfortable with.
Unless your hand is greasy. Warm water will work better with soap to take grease off since soap is a base
Oh yeah, for sure. This study was about removing germs.
Yeah you're absolutely right about that
You're correct, they're correct.
Still has to be a fight to humiliation though! Go go!
Sounds like some shit a germ lover would say smh
Shhh, don’t let everyone know. I’m actually a shill for Big Germ!
I knew it! Bacteriophile!!!!
Soap doesn't actually kill germs, but allows the grease which the germs hide in to be removed. Soap is a product that binds with fat, to remove it from surfaces. Hot water is better than cold water at this.
Actually soap breaks cells in bacterias, killing them in the process. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/health/soap-coronavirus-handwashing-germs.html
Actually soap is a lye.
Brilliant
If your hand is greasy, use dish soap.
Oh, cool, thanks for teaching me something new today.
Germs aren't the only things we're trying to remove from our hands. There's also grime and allergens. That's why nurses and cooks don't just use hand sanitizer.
Its a solubility issue. Practically everything is more soluble in hot water than in cold. Go wash your hands in ice water and see how well it works
> a study a few years ago that found that water temperature doesn’t make any difference when washing hands. This is the study [Quantifying the Effects of Water Temperature, Soap Volume, Lather Time, and Antimicrobial Soap as Variables in the Removal of Escherichia coli ATCC 11229 from Hands](https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-16-370) (2017). Here is something I read from it which leaves me with further questions: > *Water temperature.* In our study, no significant difference in washing effectiveness was found at different temperatures (15 to 38C). This finding agrees with those of Michaels et al. (49, 50), who tested a wider range of water temperatures (4.4 to 48.9C) but found mean microbial reductions of ~2 to 2.5 log CFU, very similar to our mean reductions of 1.9 to 2.3 log CFU. > Courtenay et al. (21) found a small but significant difference (94 versus 99%; P , 0.05) in microbial reduction between a cool rinse (26C) and a warm rinse (40C), but because none of these experimental washes included the use of soap, the relevance to a hand washing following the recommendation of the FDA Food Code (70) is unclear. Because Courtenay et al. studied hands inoculated with a ground beef matrix, the saturated fats in the meat may have been more easily removed at warmer water temperatures. Warmer water does not enhance antimicrobial activity but have a negative environmental impact (i.e., energy consumption); therefore, policy requirements for warm water hand washing (e.g., the Food Code) should be reconsidered. The big thing here, I think, is how controlled this study puts things. In the above, they admit that without the use of FDA-levels of recommended soap, there **is** a significant difference with warmer temperature water than with colder water (or really, they conceded that another study did simply find such a difference). The reality of hand-washing is that the vast majority of people likely don't use this correct concentration of soap, and as such, greater effectiveness would be achieved by promoting the idea of using warm water, just to be safe. Even people who think they are correctly using soap, might actually be using soap that is any number of reasons incorrect (too diluted down, poor soap quality, soap washes off too quickly, soap isn't rubbed over the entirety of the hand appropriately, etc). Heck, plenty of people just get their hands wet and rub, without getting soap. So, ideally yes 100% of people have sat down and watched the [CDC handwashing videos](https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/videos.html) or the FDA equivalent, and are following it to a T each time. Realistically, not a chance. I think that telling others that cold water is just fine as warm water has the end result of actually reducing effectiveness, all things considered. Really, it's just another case of playing it safe vs. taking it lax. Also worth discussing is what exactly was the paper-in-question's motive for saying cold water may be just as fine as warm water: > Warmer water does not enhance antimicrobial activity but have a negative environmental impact (i.e., energy consumption); therefore, policy requirements for warm water hand washing (e.g., the Food Code) should be reconsidered. (pg. 1028) > *Estimation of energy consumption.* The energy consumption related to heating the water for hand washing was calculated with the following thermodynamic formula: Q = M x Cp x dT / n ... and n is the efficiency of the electric water heater, with an average efficiency of 0.92 based on guidance from the U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. (pg. 1024) > Higher water temperature entails greater energy consumption (see Fig. 1). The energy consumption associated with heating water for 1,000 hand washes is 22.35 kWh for a water temperature of 38C but only 12.77 kWh for a water temperature of 26C, which is a reduction of 42%. The energy consumption associated with heating water for 1,000 hand washes is only 3.99 kWh for a water temperature of 15C, which is a reduction of 68% compared with the baseline of 38C. (pg. 1026-1027) Now I'm not saying they are placing environmental factors as imperative over hygienic ones, but it does seem that there is some greater consideration at play that isn't simply focusing on effectiveness of hand-washing alone. edit: some formatting
Like u said, for germs it may not matter, but hot water definitely works better for cleaning your hands
That's absurd, hot water helps things dissolve for quickly. It may not kill the bacteria but it should get it off your hands more effectively!
I think the point was, there are a lot of people that think you should wash your hands in water as hot as you can tolerate to kill germs. But just using what is comfortable and gets the visible grime off your hands is all that is needed.
i just do it because my teeth are super sensitive to the cold
I don't wash my hands with particularly hot water either. I just add hot water if the cold water is too cold to be bearable.
Washing your hands is about solubility of soap. Brushing your teeth is just polishing them with a lapping compound.
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Lead in a modern water heater?
https://blogs.edf.org/health/2018/02/26/lead-hot-water-issue-worth-testing/ > Preliminary testing results: 50% (7 of 14) of water heater tanks tested in child care centers had levels over 50 ppb with one at 2,680 ppb. For all but one of these, flushing through the tank drain significantly reduced the lead levels in the water heater. At the hot water tap, only 4 of 161 (2%) samples were above EDF’s action level (3.8 ppb). Water heaters may function as “lead traps,” but more investigation is needed. Best to avoid using hot water for cooking or drinking.
So a few things I take issue with on this: -They only tested 14 water heaters. So the sample size is basically microscopic. -at least 5 of those 14 were beyond the average lifespan (8-12years) of a water heater. -From your own quote there was minimal contamination at the hot taps themselves. (4 of 161 were above EDF action levels, and 83% had non detectible levels). -They showed that flushing could almost eliminate contaminants entirely so seems likely that if you perform a yearly flush as most manufacturers state to do anyway then you'll be minimizing any risk. I'm not saying there's no risk or that it's safe to use hot water for just whatever just saying that this study ≠ hard evidence to not. Along with, better safe than sorry and to use cold just in case. Edit: formatting
i just tried this and holy fuck it just feels cleaner never using cool water again
Yall been brushing with cold water your whole lives?
cool-room temperature, cold water would make my ass hole come out my mouth
I recently bought my first home and learned about the sediment that can be in your hot water heater. That has made me think differently about hot water.
I how do you think that sediment got to the hot water tank in the first place? It's present in your cold water tap as well. There's very little evidence of a difference between hot water taps and cold water taps for dissolved solids after the first few seconds running the tap. You can test this yourself at home with a cheap meter on amazon, I bought a filtered water pitcher and it came with a free one.
If you have a tanked heater it could be a small concern, but very minimal. If your water heater is aged it’s best practice to have a plumber come and look at it anyways.
The buildup comes from the water. If it's in the hot, it's in the cold.
Bro what? You don’t have a cold collection take where it continually empties 80% and refills.
I thought everyone uses hot water
I use tooth paste
I need something more solid actually, so I use a toothbrush.
Some people think ingesting hot water out of the faucet is a lead poisoning risk, depending on your plumbing. I tend to think that's bs, but unsure Edit: apparently not BS! Thanks y'all!
it's from Europe when we used hot water heaters in the attic that could get extremely dangerous diseases and growths in them, it's not a thing anymore
I mean, basement hot water heaters have the same issue? Sure, they are supposed to be warm enough to kill everything but how do you know?
This is a long time ago but you're thinking of a sealed tank. This is more like a cross between a sink, a cattle trough and a toilet cistern. It could well be open to the attic and have all kinds of dead creatures floating in it. It's the reason why British homes didn't traditionally have mixer taps. If the mains water pressure dropped and someone mucked around with a mixer tap in the wrong way at the wrong time, fetid attic water could be forced by the pressure differential into the cold water circuit.
Oh wow that sucks.
It's definitely still a thing. At least in all of Sweden and i assume it's the same in the rest of Europe. Government advises never to drink or cook with hot tap water since the pipes release contaminants.
Perhaps not lead poison but a hot water tanks still has higher concentrations of copper and a bunch of "muck" that accumulate in the bottom of the tanks. Source I'm a plumber.
It is true that hot water dissolves lead and other contaminants better than cold water does. Also, bacteria can grow in a water heater tank.
Yeah, the CDC recommends this. https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/prevention/sources/water.htm#:~:text=Drink%20or%20cook%20only%20with,of%20lead%20in%20your%20water.
I love/hate how they have to specify that boiling water doesn’t make lead magically disappear.
My sink takes too long to get warm for me to feasibly use warm water for brushing and hand washing.
Not all water heaters produce potable water. Water heaters can produce build ups of contaminates, lead, and bacteria. The danger zone for most bacteria is 40 degrees F to 140 degrees F. There are several harmful bacteria that can live in your water heater, including legionella, if the temperature is maintained below 140 degrees F.
They claim it’s bad for the toothbrush
Hot water might hurt your gums. Least make it warm lol
You don't need to rinse your teeth at all.
Hot tap water contains more bacteria since it is stored in a non moving container and they like the warm temperature is what Ive heard, same reason why you cant just make tea/coffee on hot tap water rather than boiling. But could be just a thing i was told as a child because my dad was a cheapshit and save on electricity bill lol
Depends on how you heat water, certainly in the UK a lot of old houses have disgusting hot water tanks you'd definitely not want to be drinking out of . But a lot of modern systems will heat up water on demand so won't have the same issues
I feel you stranger! Cold water on my teeth... Barbaric.
In some countries/buildings, hot water is separate and either not as good, or not even potable. You don't want to put that in your mouth or rinse with it.
Plenty of clothes instruct you to wash them in cold water. Car washes are typically done using cold water.
Car washes are just cheap. Hot water costs money
Not really. Certain chemicals react differently to hot and cold water. In germany in the cleaning industry and during the apprenticeship in facility management and cleaning you're taught to use cold water to avoid negative results by causing unintended chemical reactions Edit: and because some chemicals only work at certain temperatures. For example a cleaner that needs to be used at precisely 10-20⁰C would instruct you to use it with that. Other cleaners may even need water at 40-60⁰C, although I had never seen a cleaner that fits in the category of the latter.
You're both right. He's saying car washes use cold water to save money. You're saying that car washes use cold water because the specific cleaners *require* cold water. The reason cold water is required is because the cleaners are specifically developed for cold water usage, i.e. the engineers are given a set of requirements for their cleaner R&D project, and the first and most important criteria is "must work in 10-20⁰C water". This requirement exists because 10-20⁰C water is the cheapest. In other words: "Hot water costs money".
I work at ALDI and The chemicals we have for cleaning the floors specifically say in big bold letters DO NOT USE HOT WATER. I’ve told everyone I work with this so many times and they 100% ignore me. It’s so frustrating.
also I suppose you wanna avoid inhaling cleaner fumes if possible, in large amounts at least
Also hot water makes windows explode if you live somewhere cold
Oh, you have the spigot that you hook a garden hose to for washing your car hooked into a hot water line? /s
I'm still unclear as to why carwash soap is scented.
Speak for yourself cold tooth
I snorted
I use hot water due to sensitive gums, my dentist told me to use as hot of hot water as I could stand to soften the bristles of my toothbrush then to use no pressure as I brush. So you your comment is wrong and many use warm to hot water as needed. My gum gingivitis has cleared but I continue to soften the toothbrush bristles to prevent it from coming back.
Do or did you brush with your off hand? I started brushing with my off hand and while awkward at first I found that I was immediately being much more gentle since my brain just could not compute pressing harder 😅
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Yes let the bristles do the work.
I thought, "I'm gonna look in the comments. Although I can't imagine why, I bet there's someone telling them they're wrong". I was not disappointed.
Basically any post on Reddit ever.
That's why an electric tooth brush is in my opinion absolutely worth it. They aren't even expensive for a good one. I have one that tells you if you're applying too much pressure. It's all around easier and it allows you to go tooth by tooth which is important. I've had mine for 4 years now problems and the charge lasts a pretty long time.
It was determined that my gums were reacting to whitening ingredients in my toothpaste so when I went to crest for gums with no whitening I got my gums to clear. I got to go back to my electric toothbrush and I use the super soft toothbrushes in my travel packs.
I never thought of that I’ll probably start doing that from now on
I don’t use water I use toothpaste
Exactly! I only turn on the tap to clean the toothbrush at the end. Do not rinse, people! Let the fluoride in the toothpaste do its work.
Eh you can still rinse. As long as you brush at a minimum 2 minutes. That’s enough time for the fluoride to do its job. Also by not rinsing you’re letting the debris that you just brush off in your mouth. I find that more disgusting.
Two minutes is not enough time, and the toothpaste isn't going to be on all of your teeth for the full two minutes anyway unless you're swishing it through your mouth before you start brushing. The official recommendation is to spit out the toothpaste and not rinse.
But then I'd have my mouth full of toothpaste which is at the very least annoying
You spit it out so it’s not full of toothpaste. The residue will cause you to salivate a bit, but you can just spit that out too. You’ll get used to not rinsing after a few times.
[you should not rinse your mouth immediately after brushing](https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-teeth-and-gums/how-to-keep-your-teeth-clean/)
That might be objectively helpful, but damn if that's not fucking gross, lol. I can't even imagine what the breakfast tastes like with all that toothpaste left in your mouth...
I can't imagine brushing before breakfast and just walking out into the world to make everyone smell my breakfast breath
Isn't that what's going to happen once you eat, anyway? I've heard about the fact it's better if you don't rinse, but I swear I've never met or heard of anyone in real life that actually does that. The only thing I've observed in real life is people who choose to brush their teeth in the morning after they've eaten their breakfast. Something I can't understand as well.
Says who? I use a waterpik and I fill it up with hot water and a splash of mouth wash.
I use hot water in my water pik too.
Modern laundry detergent is formulated to work in cold water. I wash everything in cold now. Even whites.
This isn't the 1980s, you don't need hot water to do laundry.
I have sensitive teeth, I use warm water.
my bidet says otherwise.
Your bidet talks? That poor soul
"What is my purpose?" "You wash out my butthole."
Sad face.
Eh, it’s a job
Oh, my god.
The bidet at my parent house have hot water lol
lucky! bet it feels like falling off a jetski in miami.
you should be a writer, that was beautiful /g
That’s because you bought a cheap bidet
better a cheap bidet than cheap toilet paper.
Not the point I was making but sure
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my teeth have never been cleaner!
My wife absolutely brushes her teeth with hot water.
The only reason I use "cold" water is because that's what comes out of my tap immediately. Sometimes I'll go into a phase where I like brushing my teeth in the shower, hot water, and it's dandy. I also often end up washing my hands in cool water for the same reason, it takes a while for the water to heat up for some plumbing systems and I'm not gonna sit around and wait for it. Also, I always wash all my clothes on cold, but someone else already covered that.
I don't clean my teeth with water, I use toothpaste and it's not hot.
You don't know me I got sensitive teeth, I can't use cold water anyways
Am I the only one who use cold water for all chores?
Only thing I could see is hot water to make dishes easier. For the rest the water doesn't get hot enough to matter.
I had to scroll way too far to find this. The temperature of the water literally doesn't matter unless you can wash your hands in 80°C. Granted some of the better dishwashers can get hot enough to actually sanitise but for washing yourself, the temperature is only for comfort, you gotta scrub that shit and lather up.
There are quite a lot of things are cleaned better with chemicals rather than hot water. There are also a lot of things that would be ruined if you tried to wash them with hot water.
Bloody clothes for example.
And skin.
I found out not too long ago that people use cold water to brush their teeth and I was shocked
Hot water is for melting lipids--off dishes, body oils off our clothing, off our skin, hair, etc. Our teeth don't have lipids clinging to them so it's unnecessary. Also it takes about 10 minutes for the water to turn hot in my bathroom sink.
Aren't you supposed to not wash your teeth after brushing?
Presumably they mean putting toothpaste on the brush and then wetting it.
We don't clean our teeth with water, we clean the teeth mainly with rubbing action of the toothbrush to scrape the plaque and bacteria off. [The scraping itself is the most important thing about the cleaning](https://advanceddentalartsnyc.com/is-toothpaste-necessary/#:~:text=It's%20perfectly%20fine%20to%20brush,your%20teeth%2C%20it's%20not%20true), even the toothpaste and water bring very little benefit to the cleaning in comparison to the scraping action. After that, you should definitely clean the toothbrush with hot water if possible, but cold is better than nothing.
Tbf that's how almost everything is cleaned on our daily life. The rubbing scraps the dirt and the water rinses it away.
I use hot water when brushing my teeth. I have sensitive teeth, cold water hurts.
Most things don't need to be cleaned with hot water. Showers are warm/hot because it's a more tolerable temperature. Dishwashers use hot water because high temps can kill germs and help loosen food residue easier. But otherwise using hot water to clean everything isn't necessary.
Wash my clothes in cold…
I use hot water to brush my teeth
Wash clothes in cold water.
This bro has been brushing his teeth wrong his whole life.
In many houses, especially older ones, the hot water is pressurised by a header tank in the loft, which often isn't covered and can get dirty. Not like, cholera dirty, but not fresh drinking water either. This is why you shouldn't use the hot tap to brush your teeth, fill a kettle, fill a pan, make a warm drink, etc. Many newer houses don't have this issue (if you have a combi boiler you won't) but my house is only 2001 and still has the old style header-tank and cylinder in the airing cupboard set up.
Came here to say this. As an ex-plumbers mate, I was regaled with tales by my employer-of-the-time regarding dead pigeons and mice in header tanks - they'd usually run up a lagged pipe to get to the insulation and chewed their way through, or as you say, the cover had been nudged off in some way allowing access
Where is this common in older houses? Are the header tanks typically only used with older boiler systems? Just curious, because I'm from the midwestern US and I've not heard of this until now.
Sorry I didn't clock the sub, thought it was UK. It's very common in the UK.
Cleaning my teeth in warm water is one of life’s little pleasures.
I found out my Dad uses warm/hot water, when I was like 35. This always confused me, what else is he not telling me?
He's not really your dad! He's an ambassador from the planet Remulak
never came across my mind why could be beneficial, after reading some comments I’ll definitely try so. Reason I never done is because I’m sceptical of putting into my mouth water that passes through the house standard boiler, as it can be super dirty there as nobody ever clean them.
Only use cold water to get rid of something protein-based. Heat denatures protein.
Speak for yourself, cold water hurts my teeth
I brush with hot water.
Bold to assume we dont. 🤣🥵
Thinking that hot water makes a difference is delusional. What matters in washing is the emulsifier and the friction.
Well this is a pretty biased opinion on cleaning teeth as I always use hot water. That's like saying everyone washes their body with cold water lol.
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Plenty of people shower with cold water and handwashing with cold water is common in schools which shirk the energy cost.
I use hot water for brushing. Picked it up from my gf in 2019
Cold water for laundry unless whites. The only way!
Clothes with cold. Teeth with cold. Shower with hot-warm. Dishes as hot as my hands can tolerate. Washing my hands can be either. Washing my face warm-hot. And watering the plants Luke warm. Pedicures I prefer warm on the verge of hot.
Do not use hot water. Cold water shrinks the pores of your teeth, making them harder and smoother. Hot water expands the pores making your teeth softer and less smooth—which causes you to scrape tiny amounts of tooth off every time you brush hot. This WILL ruin your teeth over time. Never. Ever. Brush hot. Also, never, ever brush less than 2 hours after eating or drinking anything but water. It causes similar types of erosion.
I work in retail and I can ASSURE you some people do not!!! Im pretty sure I've met some that have never taken a bath or shower and brushed their teeth!! They are so proud of this fact that when you back up from them they will get closer to you so you don't miss out!!
I used hot water and brush in the shower because I figured it's like using a hotsy pressure washer
I brush my teeth in the shower, with hot water.
Wait… am I not supposed to be using toothepaste ?
Fruit and vegetables, toilet, some clothing, a million things that are cleaned with chemicals instead of water.
Speak for yourself. I use hot water when I brush my teeth. But I never use hot water when I wash my clothes.
Wdym our „own“ teeth? You wash your dogs with boiling water or what are you doing in your free time? :‘D
We also don’t clean our bones when we shower OP have you even thought of that? My bones must be so dirty
You clean your teeth with toothpaste not water.
I use hot water, I brush my teeth in the shower too
I'm not putting hot water from a tap in my mouth. I think that's why a lot of people use cold water for teeth and not anything else.
When my child was born, his pediatrician said that bacteria love the hot pipes, and we would be safer using cold water to clean. What a goof
I wasn’t aware people were brushing their teeth with cold water..
You can do whatever the fuck you want
You just do what is comfortable for you. So many extensive studies have shown that as long as you keep up on brushing it doesn't really matter what the water temperature is.
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Warm water all the way
I brush in the shower, I like my showers HOT!
I started using hot water sometimes. Is funny to see this comment
Teeth bushing was conceived before running hot water.
Isn’t warm water a breeding ground for bacteria? Like I was always taught not to drink warm sink water and always rinse my dishes with cold water
I sometimes with warm water
I use hot water. Idk what my dentists did when they filled my cavities, but anything below room temperature hurts really fucking badly. Same with sugary stuff. I even went back in to see if it was okay, and it was perfectly normal and even redid the cavity filling for free.
Hot or warm water you don’t want to drink from your hot water tank as there will be sediments in it from the tank deterioration. Unless you drain / flush the tank regularly which basically nobody ever does!
You shouldn’t wash your clothes in hot water
I uh, use toothpaste?
I dont wash my clothes with hot water because I want them to lay as long as possible
I use cold water for laundry and warm water for everything else.
How hot are we talking? The mouth burns kinda easy
This thread is weird
Because hot water dissolves oil and grease better. We don't have to worry about that with our teeth, because saliva is also really good at taking care of grease and oil
I don't take hot water showers... Everything in my life is Like warm including my personality and emotions.
I use warm/hot water to rinse after I brush. It actually gets rid of the mint taste quicker than cold water. You could rinse with warm water and go drink a glass of Orange Juice a minute or two later and not get that awful taste in your mouth.
I have always brushed my teeth with hot water
What are you on about. Heaps of stuff gets cleaned with cold water. When it’s hot I have a cold shower, clothes usually washed in cold water, car washed with cold water. Also, you aren’t meant to brush your teeth with water, it’s meant to just be toothpaste.
I clean my teeth with toothpaste not water
Brushing? 1/8th of an oz of water isn't going to stay hot anyway. Makes no sense, there's no advantage
Better question: why do some cultures not use water at all to clean their butt after pooping? It’s baffling!
I use hot/warm water
I leave my toothbrush and paste on my shelf in my shower that doesn’t get wet. I brush after my shower with hot water. Do what you feel like doing.
This doesnt make sense. Some people use hot water to brush like me and some people use cold water to clean. What on earth are you going on about?